Conversion of old rails into girders



(No Model.)

J. REESE.

CONVERSION OF OLD RAILS INTO GIRDERS. No. 371,361. Patented Oct; 11,1887.

Iiiiiiii UNITED STATES PATENT OFFI E.

JACOB REESE, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

CONVERSION OF OLD RAILS INTO GIR'DERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.,371,361, dated October 11, 1887.

Application filed February 18, 1S: 4.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Beitknown that I, Jacon Rnnsrra citizen of the United States, and a resident of Pitt sbu rg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in the Utilization of Old Rails in the Manufacture of Girders; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 indicates a cross sectional view of an old rail. Fig. 2 indicates a front elevation of a set of rolls adapted to reduce an old rail into a girder. Fig. 3 indicates a crossseclional view of a form ofgirder to be produced from the old rail.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts wherever they occur.

Girders have heretofore been made from blooms or pilts, which are worth at present from twelve to fifteen dollars per ton more than old steel rails.

My invention consists in subjecting the old rail to the action of a set of rolls provided with a series of grooves adapted to force the metal of the head out laterally until the head is reduced into a flange of the desired width, and then reduce the blank so formed into the finished form and size desired.

The rolls indicated in the drawings are pro- I vided with a series ofpeculiarly-shaped grooves for reducing the old rail into the form of a tinished girder. The first two are oblique and are formed in such a manner as to spread laterally the metal in the rail-head, but make no material alteration in the shape or size of the web and flange. The function of the third is to simply flatten down the Vshaped flange produced from the rail-head by the action of the first two passes, so that the blank may be entered into the succeeding groove. The re maining grooves are simply ordinary finishing-grooves.

The operation of the improvement is as follows: The old rails are heated to a proper temperature by means of any suitable furnace,and are then entered, one at a time, into the first oblique groove. The action of this groove forces the metal of one side of the head down Serial No. 121,207. (No model.)

and out laterally without materially disturbing it in the webandflange, which are merely compressed sufficiently to hold the rail in place while one side of the head is being widened, as before stated. The rails are then turned and passed through the second oblique groove, which produces a similar effect on the opposite side of the rail head, thus transforming the rail -head into a V shaped flange. 'lhese blanks are then passed through the third groove,which flattens down the Vflange and brings the blanks to the proper form to pass through the succeeding grooves, which gradually reduce and finish the metal to the particular form, shape, and sizes desired.

Insteadof the use of the two oblique grooves, a greater number having less reduction may be used,asthisisa matter which will depend on the size of the rail-head, on the width of the flange to be produced, and on the diameter of the rolls and their power to reduce.

Small steel girders may thus be manu fat-tn red atacostofaboutthirty to thirlyfive dollars per ton,and,whilctheyare very desirable,they have not, so far as I am aware, been made in this country or put upon the market. At present small iron girders are quoted at seventy dollars per ton. Either iron or steel girders, ranging from ten to forty pounds to the yard and from three to six inches in height, may be made by the use of my improvement, and, if desired, still smaller sizes may be made by turning the third groove shallower, so as to squeeze down the web, and thus reduce the blank to the desired height.

The steel girders will be in demand for shipbuilding and other structural purposes.

Having described my invention, what 1 claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s

The rolls having the passes, the first conforming to the shape of a rail, the last to the shape of a girder, and the intervening ones shaped substantially as described.

JACOB REESE.

\Vi tnesses:

FRANK M. Rnnsn,

WALTER REESE. 

